Elaine Sperber

Elaine Sperber was educated at the University of California, Berkeley, and began her career as an executive at the San Francisco International Film Festival. She moved into television in New York, where she worked for the Learning Corporation of America developing and producing children’s drama for educational distribution. She subsequently continued at Highgate Pictures, producing a number of Emmy Award-winning “After-School Specials” for the ABC Network, as well as numerous children’s and youth drama specials for CBS and NBC.

After re-locating to Los Angeles to develop projects for London Films, she later moved to HBO where she remained for five years. As Vice President of Production for HBO Pictures, she was executive in charge on many internationally acclaimed films including THE JOSEPHINE BAKER STORY, STALIN, and CITIZEN COHN.

At HBO, she also produced the films PERFECT WITNESS with Brian Dennehy, Aidan Quinn and Stockard Channing, and FRAMED with Jeff Goldblum and Kristin Scott-Thomas, before moving on to Walt Disney Pictures to produce the feature film A FAR OF PLACE, based on the novels by Sir Laurens van der Post and shot entirely in Africa.

Ms. Sperber moved to London in 1995 and began consulting for the Disney Channels to help set-up their newly-launched original programming division. She became Head of Drama for Buena Vista in 1996, charged with the development and production of comedy and drama series for the growing number of Disney Channels worldwide. In 1998 she was Executive Producer for two new children's series: MICROSOAP, co produced with BBC, and THE CRASH ZONE, produced with the Australian Children's Television Foundation for The 7 Network.

She became Executive Producer for Children's Drama at the BBC in January, 1999, where she is responsible for a wide range of children's dramas including GRANGE HILL and the BAFTA Award Winning PIG HEART BOY and CUSTER'S LAST STAND UP. She is now Head of Drama, CBBC, and recent successes include the adaptations of Philip Pullman's I WAS A RAT and Clive King's STIG OF THE DUMP.

She lives in London and is an active member of the RTS and BAFTA.